


I Am Ice and Dust and Light

by hannahrhen



Series: Ice and Dust and Light [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Mpreg, No Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-12
Updated: 2012-05-12
Packaged: 2017-11-05 05:42:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/403050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahrhen/pseuds/hannahrhen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s possible if he shoved the human off him now, he could prevent this. It was even possible--probable? likely?--that this mortal male wouldn’t have compatible seed. The odds of his species being able to breed with humans must be infinitesimally--</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Am Ice and Dust and Light

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [From a Seed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/387839) by [theorytale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theorytale/pseuds/theorytale). 



> It is probably no coincidence that I read "From a Seed" yesterday and wrote this today! Fun story, that.
> 
> Title from Kate Bush's "Snowflake."
> 
> Edited for series consistency, 07/02/2012

It actually took a second time before Loki felt the shift. Day three of being locked, voluntarily, in Tony Stark's master suite with occasional naked jaunts to the patio for fresh air and to ensure the world wasn’t destroyed--or, in the god's case, hoping for some mischief.

He's on his knees and elbows for the second time that day--the second time ever--while Tony, in his arrogance, talked about rocking his world ("Asgard, babe--you know, looks like we already took care of Midgard, right?"), and he would have rolled his eyes if it didn't feel so unbelievably good.

It was in the middle of marveling at his own unexpected pleasure, being taken so wantonly, ridiculously, and, he'd admit, ecstatically by this insane, babbling human, that he felt what he could only term "the shift"--a crackling cold spreading through his abdomen, slushy rivulets of rushing _wet_ that made him gasp. Gasp louder, anyway. He’d never felt quite like that before but …

The memory was unbidden.

No.

_No._

He knew how the Jotunn reproduced--at least through boys' gossip and filthy talk, stories Thor's older friends told them just for shock value. The males could engender children as well as the females, depending on need. Depending on _want_. Going into a "heat" that was, laughingly but unsurprisingly, frigid. The need was obvious--the only one of his species on this planet of fools needed to repopulate. But apparently not entirely depending on want, because … well, how the hell would he want this?

The next thrust hit a particularly delectable angle, and he groaned.

Oh.

_Gods._

Tony’s fists left the bed, bound around Loki's chest, and struggled to pull him upright, off his elbows. “Up, babe--up!” Loki pushed off, moving his hands to the headboard, spreading his knees further.

“God!” That was Tony.

“Yes.” It felt-- He arched his back. Belly even chillier, sparkling threads he wondered if Tony would feel. His focus, for the first time in days, was off his cock, completely centered on the middle of his body. It’s possible if he shoved the human off him now, he could prevent this--a nonmagical conception. It was even possible--probable? likely?--that this mortal male wouldn’t have compatible seed. The odds of _his_ species being able to breed with humans must be infinitesimally--

At that moment, he heard--felt--Tony surge inside him, too hot for comfort but so, so good. And a moment later, for a split second, the cold in his center formed into a hard ball, shrinking, tightening, and then … gone. Mostly gone. If he concentrated, something felt different. Shifted.

He wondered if it had all been his imagination or some heretofore unknown biological anomaly, but then Tony grasped his slightly softened cock and made a superhuman effort to refocus Loki’s attention.

It worked.

***

He had known, mostly, from the moment of conception, but a voice in the back of his head whispered doubts. It was his first experience with Jotunn conception, his other children begotten by ... _traditional_ Aesir methods or magic. No other frost giants available--he had no one to ask. No doctors who could examine him safely (either for his safety or for theirs, once they discovered his secret[s]). If he had been impregnated, he had no idea how long he’d wait for the birth, if the child would be healthy or horribly malformed from the crossbreeding with a human, and … how it would emerge. (At that, he shivered and reassured himself repeatedly, with blind faith, that he’d have the magic at his disposal.)

So it wasn’t until the creature--until the child--started squirming some months later that he sighed deeply and accepted his fate. He avoided Tony Stark and his allies--his own brother, of course, even more assiduously as his midsection thickened.

“Avoided” wasn’t entirely accurate--”avoided being seen,” perhaps, as he slipped by, undiscovered, to observe Tony’s activities, or simply to watch him move. Never close enough to alarm his brother, but he had to _see_. His own curiosity about the child--and the child’s father--couldn’t be dampened. He remembered the days in Tony’s home, in his bed, food magically appearing outside the door every five hours or so, wine bottles just as frequently if not more so. Tony’s quicksilver mind and filthy tongue were the most diverting things the god had discovered on this desolate world. Even in this awkward condition, his head swam and loins tightened remembering the days--and nights--that led to this.

Tony Stark, be damned.

***

“Brother.”

It was unexpected--and the worst sound he could have conjured at that moment. This once, he'd allowed himself to get too close. To them--to _him._

Again: _“Brother.”_

How he could have let Thor slip up on him in this state, not have the time to cast … some spell, if he could think of one, to disappear, transform, mask his condition. Instead, Thor had approached him from the side, unseen, but well in eye-line of his swollen form.

Thor had heard the boys’ rumors as well. He couldn’t hide this--what this was. Rather than hiding, Loki’s armor now enhanced the lines of his abdomen, a casual magic he found himself repeating at least monthly.

“Mother heard me, once, talking to Volstagg about the frost giant males’ … unusual ability to give birth. I was … being coarse, and she … well.” An embarrassed chuckle. “She took me to task, as she could do so well.”

Loki smiled reluctantly. “Yes, I remember.”

“She said it showed remarkable power and an urge to survive--no matter what befell them. ‘Imagine,’ she said. ‘Only half as many of us can produce children, my son. What would happen if they decided to exercise their power fully? How long would we last?’”

Loki gazed a little hopelessly at his brother. “And yet, little good will it do me. It’s hardly likely I can take over this foolish world one child at a time. This one has been growing for a year already, with no sign of emerging.”

Thor huffed, rolled his eyes up to the night sky. “A year. … Tony Stark, then.”

Oh, gods. Loki grimaced, clenched his fists. “How--”

“You think I didn’t notice when you disappeared--when you both disappeared--for days? Stark turned up bruised and limping and with the most … offensive smile on his face. And yet he would barely meet my eyes. When Captain Rogers asked him where he’d been, he said--and I remember this distinctly, ‘On ice.’ And then he winked at Natasha and almost sauntered away.”

Loki’s skin cooled, rippled--an involuntary reaction. “I could kill him where he stands.”

The blond man raised an eyebrow, expression grim. “You’d have to see him first, would you not?”

“Not necessarily.”

The brothers smiled then, slightly, hesitantly at each other--Thor unsure if Loki were serious. Loki wasn’t certain either.

“I am needed elsewhere, brother,” Thor continued. “But I will tell you one this one thing. What Mother heard me say--I was making a jest at the expense of the frost giants’ childbirth. Speculating … well, about how the children were born. Where they ... came out.” Loki tensed. “Mother told me--the males and females give birth the same way ... _naturally_. In case … you were wondering. In case your magic fails you.”

Loki had no reply, but if his brother’s face were any indication, he knew his expression was a confounding blend of relieved and even more alarmed.

***

He gave birth alone, in a cave, with minimal risk of human attention. It wasn’t truly an ignominious start for the first offspring of a human-frost giant pairing; the environment was quite beautiful. Loki knew himself to be the first sentient being to discover this glittering cavern, sparkling and frozen and so like home, and, while he was alone, he found comfort in the crystalline formations and protective mountains--a place his brother only would consider looking, while his allies hewed closer to populated areas.

His child looked nothing like he expected. For the long near year and five months, he’d been certain his child would be blue-skinned in some form--red-eyed, at least. Horns, somewhere. Instead his child was almost disappointingly human. Tony Stark’s child, indeed. The frozen cave had suddenly seemed like a misguided decision, and he reached tiredly for the thermal blankets he’d stored in case they were needed. Just before it was wrapped, the infant shivered--and blue lines sparked across the tiny chest, the wrinkled forehead. The child settled, comfortable once again, and the lines faded.

Loki smiled.

***

He knew as soon as Tony became aware of his presence. He’d entered the laboratory to find Tony hunched over his latest invention, back to the entryway, a small welding torch in his hand, if the sound were any indication. The man’s movements, the sound stopped--he stilled, and he glanced slightly over his shoulder.

“Pepper’s not that quiet, and anyone else that silent would have killed me already. … Unless you’re just enjoying the view.” He wiggled his hips for emphasis.

Loki was impressed by the human’s reaction despite himself. It had been two years since Tony had seen him, and he was unfazed. Or at least very, very good at giving that impression.

Tony stood, turned, and leaned back against the lab table, dropping the torch. He was wearing what remained of a suit after “getting more comfortable,” Loki remembered--a haphazardly buttoned white shirt, metal-gray trousers. He looked little changed from their last meeting. When he spoke, though, his tone was cautious.

No fool, Stark.

“Is this the part where we talk child support? Because rumors of my income are greatly exaggerated, I’ll have you know.” The smile didn’t reach his eyes.

Loki damned his brother.

“He told you immediately, then.”

“Not … immediately, no. He was gone for a few days, and when he came back--he wouldn’t look at me. And, face it, I’m something to see, so that clearly made no sense. We were in a firefight--you heard about that Nebula thing--hell, you probably had something to do with it. You must’ve been bored, huh?”

Loki snorted softly, looked at the floor, the windows. “Not as such, no.”

“Hm, no--I suppose not. Anyway, Thor saved my ass, but it looked like he had to think about it first. He _took his time_." A pause. "I guess I should ask--what happened to it?”

He looked sharply back at the other man, mouth opening slightly. It--?

“The … baby? What happened to it?”

The tone, the question: Loki felt his skin crackling. His fists tightened.

“ _‘It’_ … is safe.” His tone was brutal.

But a moment later, his tension disappeared when he observed the relief that settled on the other man’s face.

“Oh,” Tony sighed. “Oh,” he said again, beginning to laugh. “Well, then. Huh. What--what is--uh … a boy or a girl?”

“A Jotunn and a human,” Loki responded, then relented when he saw Tony’s smile disappearing. “... And male.”

A startled grin. “A son for Tony Stark. Wow. That’ll sell some papers.”

Loki didn’t follow Tony’s thinking--and he wasn’t sure this was going well. After Tony looked at his face, though, the human’s tone became more … appropriate.

“When can I meet him?”

“You--you want to see him?”

Finally, Tony left the table and approached … slowly, as if attempting to net a large, dangerous creature. Loki huffed--the comparison wasn’t completely inaccurate.

“He’s--he’s safe now. I found mortals to care for him for short periods when I’m … unavailable. They don’t know--they can’t see what he is, I’ve ensured it. And I’m not … Your kind cannot find him.”

“My kind.” Tony was also quite adept at using cold as a weapon when needed.

Loki slid two steps to the side, out of Tony’s immediate trajectory. He turned his back on the man. “I wanted you to know about him--but that’s all.” He glanced back. “For now.”

“Ah. For now.” A hand reached out, catching Loki right above the elbow, turning him slightly. “I will look forward to the future, then.” A breath. “Are you going to tell me his name?”

The god paused, considering. “Why don’t you tell me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, Christ, I wrote mpreg. What is the penance for this sort of thing? Maybe at least three really obvious and tedious het stories??? (sigh) Well, I blame RDJ and TH for just being irresistible. And "From a Seed" for being hilariously awesome.


End file.
